About KCC

For 37-years the Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus has been providing outstanding choral music to our community.

History

It started back in 1980, when local teacher Jeanne Frey, saw a need for choral education. She filled that need by giving Kalamazoo-area children an opportunity to explore and develop choral music when she formed the Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus.

“At the time, there was not a choral program in Kalamazoo public schools that was meeting the needs of the kids who really wanted to explore challenging choral repertoire,” Artistic Director Fred Sang explained to the Kalamazoo Gazette in 2011.

Starting as a single choir, the Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus is now five choirs strong. Choir placement is based on many things, including the child’s interests, experience, vocal maturity and the needs of each individual choir so grade or age levels indicated for each choir below are really just a guide.

Eastside – KCC’s newest choir made it’s concert debut on December 8, 2013. This neighborhood choir is for children, ages 8-12, living on Kalamazoo east side neighborhoods of Eastside, Eastwood, Comstock and Parchment. During the 2017-2018 Season, this choir will be performing with KCC’s newest choir, Coro de Niños.

Preparatory – Entry level choir for 3rd and 4th grades. This is a tuition-based choir rehearsing on the Milwood Campus. Tuition for the Preparatory Choir in 2017-2018 is $425.

Treble – 4th through 6th grade singing two part music. This is a tuition-based choir rehearsing on the Milwood Campus. Tuition for the Treble Choir is $425 for the 2017-2018 Concert Season.

Bella Voce – 6th through 9th grade advanced music in three parts and in foreign languages. This is a tuition-based choir rehearsing on the Milwood Campus. Tuition for Bella Voce is $475 for the 2017-2018 Concert Season.

Touring – 7th through 12th grade three and four part music. We travel the world! This Choir will be going to China in April 2018. Tuition for the Touring Choir is $475 for the 2017-2018 Concert Season. The Concert Tour of China is an extra expense and although encouraged, singers are not required to tour.

Coro de Niños – is a free, after-school Spanish immersion choir for singers in grades 3-5 at El Sol Elementary School in Kalamazoo. This choir was formed in January 2017 and is the newest member of the KCC family of choirs.

Each year about 150 children, ages 8 to 18, learn and perform in an atmosphere of artistic excellence, and by so doing, enrich the artistic life of our community.

We’re always looking for new ways to expose our singers to new music. We’ve sung with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, The Kalamazoo Singers and the Kalamazoo Oratorio Society. We’ve opened at Comerica Park for the Detroit Tigers, sung in several operas and perform in The Nutcracker Ballet ever two years with Ballet Arts Ensemble and the KSO. A 2013 performance of Carmina Barana with KSO was received with outstanding reviews for the Chorus!

Since 1993, we’ve traveled the world. From Japan to Ireland, London to Vienna. We’ve sung with world-class chorus’ from around the world both at home and abroad. In June 2013, the Touring Choir performed in Rome, Florence, Mezza Villa and at the Bacillica of St. Mark’s in Venice, Italy.

In June 2016 KCC’s Touring Choir traveled to the Crescent City Choral Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana where we sang at St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square with 10 other choirs from New Jersey to California and places in between! It was magical!

In 2018, the Touring Choir will be on tour again. This time, to the mystical land of the People’s Republic of China! Please consider being a travel scholarship sponsor by supporting KCC singers who need financial assistance. Email Outreach Director Leona Gould-McElhone at leona@kalamazoochildrenschorus.org for more information on how you can help open up a world of opportunities to young adults.

Rehearsal Schedule

Our weekly rehearsals run from September to April. We practice proper vocal techniques while singing through a wide variety of music from Broadway to Bach. We provide a challenging musical environment for our choristers and a rich heritage of choral singing to the Kalamazoo-area.

Vision

At KCC, we believe that all children deserve access to high quality singing experiences and we are committed to promoting choral singing as a life-long activity. We envision a future where choral singing is considered a vital part of the fabric of our community and where we provide a bridge to cultural understanding through music.